Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1887-08-05
JEFF DAVIS VS.. PROHIBITION.
THE OLD MAN is FOR TEMPERANCE,
BUT HE DISTRUSTS NEW
TANGLED LAWS.
[ From the Galveston News.l
BEAUVOIR, MISS, July %.

Frjcad: Yours of the 18th instant
with its Enclosures has been Ie-
ceived.
| have heretofore declined to an
swer any OF the many inquiries
made for my opinion on the cOnsti-
tutional amendment now pending
in Texas. My reason for not re-
plying was an unwillingness to en-
ter into n controversy in which my
friends in Texas stood arrayed
against each other.
In departing from the rule here
tOfOre observed, ! trust that it will
not be an unwarrantable intrusion.
Reared in the creed of DemOcra-
cy, my faith in its tenets has grown
with its growth, and adhere to
the maxim that "the world is gov
erned too much.o
When our fathers achieved their
independence, the cornerstone of
the government they constructed
was individual liberty, and the So
cial organizations they established
were not for the surrender but for
the protection Of natural rights
For this government were estab-
lished, deriving their just powers
from the consent OF the governed.
This was not to subject themselves
to the will Of the majority, as APP
pears from the fact that each COM
munity inserted in the fundamen-
tai law q bill Of rights to guard the
inalienable privileges OF the indi-
vidual.
There was, then, a twO-fold pur-
pose IN government, protection and
prevention against trespass by the
strong upon the weak, the many
on the few.
The world had long suffered from
the expressions Of government I'M
der the preteXt of ruling by divine
right, and eXcusing the invasion
into private and domestic affairs on
the plea Of paternal care for the
morals and good order Of the peO-
pie.
Our sires rejected all such pre-
tensions, their system being: Gov
eminent by the people for the peo-
pie, and resting on the basis of nat
ural inalienable rights. Upon the
basis Of these general propositions
| will briefly answer the inquiry in
regard to the prohibition amend.
ment at issue:
"Be We temperate in all things"
was a wise injunction, and would
apply to intolerance as well as
drunkenness. That the intemper.
ate use of intoxicating liquors is an
evil, few, if any. would deny.
That it is the root Of many social
disorders Is conceded, but then the
question arises, what is tho apprO.
pirate remedy and what the present
necessity To destroy individual
liberty and moral responsibility
would be to eradicate one evil by
the substitution Of another, which,
it is submitted, would be more fatal
than that for which it was offered
as a remedy. The abuse, and not
use OF stimulants. it must be con-
fessed, Is the evil to be remedied.
Then it clearly follows that action
should clearly be directed against
the abuse rather than the use. If
drunkenness be the cause Of dis
order and crime, why not pronounce
drunkenness itself TO be crime,
and attach TO il proper and ade-
quate penalties. If it he objected
that the penalties could not he en-
forced, that is an admission that
popular opinion would be opposed
to the law; but if it be true that
luries could not be impaneled who
would convict so degraded a crimi-
nal as a drunkard, it necessarily
follows that n statutory prohibition
against the sale and use OF intOXi-
cants w0uld be a dead letter.
The next branch Of inquiry is as
to the present necessity.
! might appeal to men not as old
az myself to sustain the assertion
that the cornwall use Of intoxicauts,
and the occurrence Of drunkenness,
had become less frequent within
the last twenty years than 1t was
before. The refining influences of
education and Christianity may be
credited with this result. Why not
allow these blessed handmaidens
OF virtue and morality to continue
unembarrassed in their civllizing
work. The parties to this discus
sion in your state have no doubt
brought forward the statistical
facts in regard to the effect pro-
duced in other states by this effort
to control morals by legislation,
and | will not cucumber this letter
by any reference to those facts.
You have already provision for
local prohibition. If it has proven
the wooden horse in which a dis
guised enemy to state sovereignty
as the guardian of individual liber-
ty was introduced, then let it be a
warning that the progressive march
would probably be from village to
state, and from state to United
States.
A governmental supervision and
paternity, instead Of the liberty the
heroes of 1776 left rs a legacy to
their posterity. Impelled by the
affection and gratitude feel for the
people of Texas, and the belief that
a great question Of American poll
cy is involved in the issue you have
before you, the silence | had hoped
to observe has been broken. If the
utterance shall avail anything for
good it will compensate me for the
OburgatiOns with which | shall
doubtless be pursued by the follow
ers of popularism ofthe day.
| hope the many who have ad'
dressed me letters Of inquiry on
the same subject will accept this as
an answer, though somewhat long
delayed. Faithfully yours,
JEFFERSON DAVIS.